The Disappearing CD Drive

moses_nicholas · 03-28-2007, 11:11 AM

I got onto the computer today and after doing various things, discovered that as far as the computer was concerned, Both my CD/DVD writer drive (e:) and the DVD-rom drive no longer existed. They don't show up in My Computer, Windows Media Player can't find them to rip music, games ask me to insert the CD, even though it was inserted. The problem persisted after restarting. I am completely baffled, especially because I can't find any thing about the drives in Control Panel. What should I do?

Lydokane · 03-28-2007, 01:20 PM

Check the device manager and see if the drives show up there and if there are any driver errors.

Have you made any hardware changes lately? Have you been in the case? You might have accidentally pulled a cable loose. Check the drives' power cables and make sure the plugs are secure.

If you have your Win XP disk handy you could also try sfc /scannow.

Lydokane

moses_nicholas · 03-31-2007, 11:17 AM

I haven's made any cganges for a long time, and I don't think I've ever been inside the case. I'll openit up and see what i can do though.

**koala** · 03-31-2007, 12:45 PM

Have you installed or uninstalled any CD-burning software recently?

Go to Start > Run > regedit
Remove the Upperfilters and Lowerfilters values from this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Class \ {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Then reboot.

Important: Make a backup (export) before making any changes to the registry.

moses_nicholas · 04-03-2007, 04:38 AM

I haven't installed or uninstalled any Cd burning software at all. do you think I should follow your instructions anyway?

**koala** · 04-03-2007, 07:56 AM

It's worth a try and won't do any harm if it doesn't work.

Have you looked in Device Manger yet? Control Panel > System > Hardware tab. Any yellow or red flags?

moses_nicholas · 04-05-2007, 02:49 AM

No yellow or red flags. in the end I opened the case and had look for anything loose. There didn't appear to be any problems, but after pushing on the connections, the drives reappeared in my computer. For now the problem is fixed, but I still have no idea how what i did could have any effect. Thanks for the help.

03-28-2007, 11:11 AM	#1 (permalink)
moses_nicholas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: winxp	The Disappearing CD Drive I got onto the computer today and after doing various things, discovered that as far as the computer was concerned, Both my CD/DVD writer drive (e:) and the DVD-rom drive no longer existed. They don't show up in My Computer, Windows Media Player can't find them to rip music, games ask me to insert the CD, even though it was inserted. The problem persisted after restarting. I am completely baffled, especially because I can't find any thing about the drives in Control Panel. What should I do?

03-28-2007, 01:20 PM	#2 (permalink)
Lydokane Tech, Microsoft Support Join Date: May 2005 Location: Michigan City Posts: 480 OS: Win XP Pro SP2	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive Check the device manager and see if the drives show up there and if there are any driver errors. Have you made any hardware changes lately? Have you been in the case? You might have accidentally pulled a cable loose. Check the drives' power cables and make sure the plugs are secure. If you have your Win XP disk handy you could also try sfc /scannow. Lydokane __________________

03-31-2007, 11:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
moses_nicholas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: winxp	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive I haven's made any cganges for a long time, and I don't think I've ever been inside the case. I'll openit up and see what i can do though.

03-31-2007, 12:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,366 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive Have you installed or uninstalled any CD-burning software recently? Go to Start > Run > regedit Remove the Upperfilters and Lowerfilters values from this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Class \ {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Then reboot. Important: Make a backup (export) before making any changes to the registry. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

04-03-2007, 04:38 AM	#5 (permalink)
moses_nicholas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: winxp	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive I haven't installed or uninstalled any Cd burning software at all. do you think I should follow your instructions anyway?

04-03-2007, 07:56 AM	#6 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,366 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive It's worth a try and won't do any harm if it doesn't work. Have you looked in Device Manger yet? Control Panel > System > Hardware tab. Any yellow or red flags? __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

04-05-2007, 02:49 AM	#7 (permalink)
moses_nicholas Registered User Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 39 OS: winxp	Re: The Disappearing CD Drive No yellow or red flags. in the end I opened the case and had look for anything loose. There didn't appear to be any problems, but after pushing on the connections, the drives reappeared in my computer. For now the problem is fixed, but I still have no idea how what i did could have any effect. Thanks for the help.